Effects of wildfire ash on oviposition-site selection and larval development in the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

2:06 PM – 2:18 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 220

Presenting Author(s)

GA

Geoffrey M. Attardo (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor
University of California
Davis, California

Co-Author(s)

JP

Jennifer S. Price

Undergraduate Researcher
University of California
Davis, California
NR

Nicole Rodriguez

Graduate Researcher
University of California
Davis, California

In 2013, the vector species Aedes aegypti was detected in the Central Valley of California and it has since spread throughout the state. In the same time period, California wildfires have increased in frequency, size, and intensity resulting in catastrophic damage and loss of life. Both of these phenomena are driven in part by anthropogenic climate change. Our group is interested in understanding the interactions between an invasive species such as Aede aegypti and the dramatic ecological impacts incurred by wildfire activity. Wildfires, convert the biochemical profile of ecosystems through the conversion of forest biomass into smoke, char, and ash. To date, there has been little research on the interactions between fire-derived environmental changes and mosquitoes. Our group has undertaken preliminary studies indicating that wildfire-derived contaminants such as ash and char alter the behavior and physiology of Aedes aegypti suggesting the potential for interactions that could affect the ecology of this disease vector. Our preliminary work demonstrates that water contaminated with wildfire char is attractive to egg-bearing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes for use as egg deposition sites. In addition, our results show that larval mosquitoes living in char contaminated water complete their development faster than those in uncontaminated water. These findings suggest that post-fire conditions could alter the behavior and developmental rate of this invasive disease vector. They also raise an array of questions as to the ecological significance of these observations and what the underlying mechanism is for the observed behavioral and developmental effects on this important vector species.